Connecting

This morning, our worship service at the Athletes Village included people from Canada, Australia, Great Britain, the USA, Norway, and two volunteers (I'm not sure what nations they were from). There was great music, the Lord's Supper, prayer time (including prayers of comfort for the friends and family of Nodar), and a great sermon from Joshua 1:9 by our chaplain from Norway. God spoke in powerful ways.

After morning worship it was great to hang out with my friend Adam. He loves Christ and it's always encouraging to spend some time with him. He is a skeleton athlete from Great Britain. Yesterday my friends John, Erin and Elana (USA bobsled) arrived and we spent some time talking and catching up. It's been a while since I've seen a lot of these guys, and it's great to see and hear how God has been at work in their lives.

Tonight, we worshiped at an ecumenical worship service in Whistler Village, at the Canada House. They opened up the Canada House for three local Whistler churches - Church on the Mountain, Our Lady of the Mountains, and the Whistler Village Church. Also, folks the Norwegian Church who are in town for the Olympics were there, as well as several of us from the USA. And, the chaplain for the Austrian team led one of the prayers. It was a very Christ-exalting worship service. There were prayers, songs, and a sermon by Chad - the pastor of Church on the Mountain - about "Connecting" (from John 17:20-23). There was a great time of greeting/fellowship/passing-the-peace/connecting right in the middle of the service.

In the middle of the day, I was (finally!) able to locate the Lake Placid Friendship House (you can find it on Facebook) inside the downtown Whistler Village. I kept asking everyone where it was but no one seemed to know. It was great to find it and connect with some Lake Placid friends. I look forward to checking in there from time-to-time to see everyone. I'm having a great time promoting Lake Placid while I've been here.

During the day I was able to talk to my beautiful wife Kim several times! Thanks to the LORD for cell phones and free mobile-to-mobile. Here's a funny story: the first time I was on the phone with Kim to tell her "Happy Valentine's Day" I was standing in the entry way to our Multi-Faith Centre. Just as I said, "Hey baby, happy Valentine's Day!" a 60-something sweet little lady walked in to the Multi-Faith Centre. She thought I was talking to her (she didn't notice my cell phone, I guess) and said "Thank you" to me! All of our chaplains were rolling with laughter in the floor. One chaplain said that it was the highlight of the Olympics for him so far.

Also during the day, some guys from Atlanta (Chip, Matt & Adam) and I spent some time shooting a video downtown. And, my friend Jeff Wagner came up from Vancouver and we spent some time at Starbucks and around the village.

I've enjoyed spending time with friends from the Georgia Baptist Convention and meeting new friends from Bethany Baptist Church (McDonough, GA) who are in town doing some encouraging ministries around town. We are all staying in a big house together.

The competitions at the venues went well today. Keep praying for the athletes, that they will do their best, be safe, have great attitudes no matter if they win or lose, and that God will draw people to Himself.

I have posted a few pictures of my time in Whistler on my Facebook page, if you'd like to see them. And, make sure to check out the videos about Lyndon Rush and Elana Meyers on my Facbook page.